The Last Sacrifice
by ashleyswann
Summary: Rose is in prison. Again. Only this time she's not breaking and entering. She has to find out about Lissa's half-sibling, and convince the Royal Court she's innocent of murder... will this be the final straw?
1. Chapter 1

**So, here goes nothing. All plot, characters, setting, etc. Belong to Richelle Mead I only use them selfishly for putting a voice to my endless musings…**

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It had been two weeks; two weeks while I sat virtually alone in my claustrophobic prison cell. I only say virtually because of my guards, which haven't let up in the slightest. No less than

eight at all times. I guess they finally decided to take me seriously, as should be expected what with my reputation. The infamous Rose Hathaway finally bested by this unexpected turn of

events. Even Rhonda couldn't have prepared me for this, although for the past few weeks her reading did give me something to think about. And Ambrose, we hadn't seen each other

since that day at the hearing but he definitely made me see why I was supposed to be on a journey of sorts; the letter he gave me from Tatiana had left me reeling with questions about

my future. Why was this happening? Did Tatiana know she would be killed? How was I supposed to help Lissa stuck in this stupid cell?

Ah, Liss, she and everyone else had been begging to see me since the hearing. Except Dimitri, I amended, he had only talked to Lissa about me, but he had never tried to see me. I

thought about his face that day in trial and then pushed away the thought, I wouldn't think about him, after everything he did to me, after everything I went through for him. Then, to have

that pushed aside because "_Love fades_" well I couldn't accept that. I was suddenly pulled into Lissa's head feeling her growing frustration. She was in her room at the Court with Christian,

sitting on the couch facing him.

"Ugh! I can't believe this! It's been two weeks! Two weeks Christian! How could they keep her away from me? Especially if…" she choked off, tears beginnig to stream down her face. I

hated seeing her this way over me, I would be fine. Abe was working on it…

"I know, I know, we have to do something, I can't believe there haven't been anymore leads." Christian sounded almost dejected, I was too; who ever did this put a lot of thought into it,

a lot of thought into framing _me _to be exact.

" I want to help her, there must be some way to see her. She got in to see Dimitri before, so why can't we? There's only a few days left before the trial and I don't want it to go by without

talking to her." _One last time. _She thought with a small frown that turned into an even smaller smile. She was remembering before, when life was so much easier. Christian moved in closer

holding her to him and giving her a light, comforting squeeze. The way Lissa looked at him… I knew she would be okay, even after I was gone, _if I go_ I thought fiercely. There had to be a

way out of this, they couldn't convict me, but with fewer and fewer days… well it was getting harder to convince myself of that. I was about to pull out when there was a knock at the door.

Christian got up to open it.

"Dimitri." he said giving him a nod in greeting, he had recently been let out of watch from his guardians.

"Would you like to come in?" Lissa asked from across the room. She sounded unsure, Dimitri had an oddly conflicted look on his face. A rare one that reminded me of the times he had

struggled with his emotions for me; almost like he was being torn in two with just some semblance of forcefully hold himself together to be able to do what he had to. Odd in a way of

being almost determined; a determined confliction. It was one that had always frightened me a little because it seemed like; when he had that face on_, nothing_ could change his mind.

Even if it wasn't what he wanted.

"I'm going to see Rose." he stated. My breathing accelerated back in my cell; shock coursed through me. When had this happened? How had this happened? Why… why would he even

want to see me? The words _love fades, mine has _ flashed though my mind. Lissa's thoughts were even less coherent than my own the prominent word being an astonished _How?_ that

turned into words.

"How?" she breathed.

"I've been talking to the guardians, thankfully she hasn't been giving them much trouble otherwise this couldn't have happened." he said a bit ruefully, it reminded me briefly of his normal

self before I refocused on the next bit of information. " Unfortunately, though, I couldn't convince them to let you in Princess, I think they are afraid you'll come up with an escape plan." he

finished.

Lissa's thoughts turned indignant, though slightly guilty as she had been thinking absently about it, He read that on her face and smiled slightly. My heart lept at that before I could hold it

back, though it was nowhere close to his few and far in between full on ones.

"So then why did you come here?" she asked kindly, trying unsuccessfully to clear the guilt off her face.

" I was wondering,"he said, "if you had anything to say to her? Any message I could give her from you?" Ah, the pledge to repay the debt of her repairing his soul, turning his back to a

Dhampir. Lissa saw this too, and while she didn't like it, she did need to say something to me I thought , however, she was blocking the thought. _What are you up to Liss? _I thought. She

quickly tore a square from the stationary that was on the table in front of the couch and while I could tell she wasn't sure if I was in her head, she put up a mental block and I was pushed

out.

With a huff I got up and paced in my cell. All the time wondering what Liss could be doing, and why, if I was going to find out any way, did she block me? And when, I thought, when was

Dimitri coming?

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**So, what did everyone think? This is just a little bit of it, I have a bit more waiting in the wings if this takes off but I'm a little hesitant since I'm not entirely certain where I'm headed with this. It's my first fanfic ever, but after reading them for so long I thought I'd give it a shot. So, love it or hate it I want to know. In the words of my favorite fanfiction author Hit or a Miss? Review, review...**


	2. Chapter 2

A few minutes later I got an answer, Mikhail walked up to my cell, concern the prominent feature in his eyes.

"Rose, Dimitri is going to be coming down. Are you going to be okay?" His guardian mask was still on but I could tell he was truly worried, after all he had been witness to most of my embarassing displays of emotion regarding Dimitri.

"Yeah, I'll be all right. What's the worst he could do?" I tired to make my lips smile, unfortunately it came out as more of a grimace.

"Okay, he'll be here in about five minutes, they uh… they have to search him first" he said apolegetically. _Of course they still think he's dangerous_ but still I had to ask.

"Why?" Mikhail mask didn't faulter but I thought I saw something in his eyes. Was it anger?

"They think he might be here to help you," He cleared his throat, "to help you escape, Rose."

Oh, now I got it, but then…

"Why do they think he would help me, unless…" _They know about the relationship Rose, they've seen it all over you these past weeks._ My conscious answered my question for me. Mikhail gave me a knowing look and I was more thankful than ever that he was put on my guard, I don't know if any of the others would have been quite so understanding.

Just then Dimitri came down the stairs, they hadn't let him keep Lissa's note, I could tell by the unhappiness in his features even if he had his guardian mask on. They probably even took his stake if their thoroughness when I was first brought here was any indication.

"Hello, Dimitri." Mikhail said stepping back to give us some privacy, out of hearing range but still in sight the other seven guardians did the same almost in unison.

Dimitri gave him a nod and then turned his full attention to me. His gaze was intense and… was it worried? I couldn't tell. After a few moments I figured it was up to me to break the silence.

"You must have something to say after going through all this trouble. Why are you here?" I was blunt I'll admit, but I wasn't going to play his games anymore.

His mask fell revealing an ocean of sadness and regret before my eyes, but I could only see the emotion, that didn't mean I knew what it meant. He was going to have to tell me himself if he actually wanted to message to come through.

"I..," his voice broke, "I had to see you before… I had to see you one last time."

There really was no hope then, if he thought I wouldn't make it then how could I possibly, especially with so little evidence to help me. I hadn't realized before how much his opinion mattered to me. I collasped to my knees and leaned against the bars with my eyes squeezed tightly shut.

His arms wrapped around me suddenly through the bars, I flinched but didn't push him away from me. If this was going to be my last time with him, then I could forget the pain he caused me and drink him in, memorizing the waay his skin felt against mine. We had been through too much together to hold this little lapse against him, I loved him too much to let it bother me.

I don't know how long we knelt there but soon the guardians were telling him he had to go. One last look at his face and a thousand messages were sent between us. We weren't meant to be apart, if this hadn't happened we would have realized it at one point. He wiped the tears I hadn't known were there off my face gently with his long, calloused fingers before he stood up and left me.

I was sure then that these next few days wouldn't be long enough: I wasn't going to be able to do what I had to for Lissa. I wasn't going to be able to tell Adrian the truth about our relationship; and above all I wouldn't get to be able to see and of my friends again without seeing despair on their faces. With a heavy sigh I fell into unconsiousness on my cot.

The next few days flew past faster than I could have comprehanded and certainly too fast for my liking. There were too many things I had to do, and many more beyond that, that just could not be done in this cramped little cell. My friends still weren't allowed to visit me, after all no one was ever _allowed_ to visit me, I murdered the queen. I winced inwardly at the thought, being framed did not suit my current state of mind. I was used to being a person full of energy, determination, and attitude. These days it just seemed like I was trapped between a rock and a hard place, stuck in my own thoughts, and pulled into someone else's. Lissa was in an almost constant state of panic these days; it had started out when Dimitri had returned to her after the visit to my underground toture chamber. It was torture to just sit with nothing but my thoughts and Lissa's feelings to get me through the day. She was the only one that helped me remember the passing of time at all, I hardly noticed these days. It felt like I was in a coma rather than alert and trapped behind the steel barriers.

The day that Dimitri had visited my cell he went straight back to Lissa to report, at least that's what it seemed like to me. The guards were coming over to let me out for my dailey watery escape, I was only taken out of the cell to take a shower and even then I was surrounded by bars. Even in the shower I was given very little privacy and they would not even allow me a razor to shave my legs; just soap and shampoo. It was at that point that I was pulled into Lissa's mind again. She was livid.

"What do you mean they took the note? And burned it? Are they insane?" She went from crazed and screaming to short fused and whispering in disgust as I took the spirit from her. I had to go to my happy place for a second to control the roller coaster of emotion that rocked through my frame. Once I had more of a handle on myself I looked back in, ignoring the strange looks I was getting from my guard as I attempted to multi-task.

"It could have worked, but now we'll never know will we? I can't believe they didn't even look at it first…" Dimitri looked reluctant as he said those words, his tone just slightly less upset. I would venture a guess that he had just found out what the note said as well.

At that point it seemed the conversation was deemed private by Lissa and I was astonished to be tossed out yet again, and with even more ease than the time before.

By the time I got back to my cell I was really frustrated, Lissa was just keeping more and more to herself, I needed as many distractions as possible and she wasn't making it any easier to forget the situation I was in. I sighed, this wasn't Lissa's fault and I shouldn't be blaming her at all, none of this was her fault. I was beginnig to crack under the stress, and the spirit-induced craziness was starting to get to me, effectivly freaking me out more.


End file.
